"So, Sparkler…who's your friend?"

Dorian looks up from his task of retrieving dinner and raises an eyebrow at Varric. Of course his acquaintance would raise questions, even more so that she was with him. An evil Tevinter magister-which he certainly was not a magister, but Southerners didn't seem to know the difference or care-bringing a strange girl with him when he joined the Inquisition? He might have been able to get by without the questions, but the girl wielded a strange weapon. Not to mention the red eyes. Her eyes are what had everyone on edge. It usually meant red lyrium, but no, it was her natural eye color.

"Are you genuinely curious or do you just want to know if red lyrium has a part?" The mage returns his attention to acquiring the slop they called stew, and then straightens after filling a second bowl.
The dwarf shrugs at his question. "Both I guess. Have to make sure, what with my record with the stuff."
Fair enough, Dorian thought. "It was the first thing I checked for. No lyrium of any kind."
"Did you hire her as your personal bodyguard?"
Dorian snorts. "She watches my back and I return the favor. If you earn her trust, she will watch yours too." He pauses at the thought. "She may watch it anyway. As long as you don't give her reason, she is harmless and a powerful ally."
Varric chuckles. "Do I even want to know?"
"Ask Iron Bull how he got a bloody nose."
"That was her?!"

Varric sputters at the mage's retreating form. Dorian's companion may be small but she certainly packed a punch. Iron Bull had approached her while the mage was a few feet away in a conversation with the Herald, and while Dorian could not hear their conversation, he was sure whatever the Qunari said warranted the punch in the face he received. Bull had actually staggered from the blow and when he pulled his hand away from his face, he laughed when he saw blood. If he wasn't Qunari, Dorian would have been concerned for the man's sanity. When he asked his companion about the display, she said nothing and he didn't pry. He probably didn't want to know.
Dorian carefully weaves his way back to his shared cabin, approaches the young girl leaning against the side of it, and hands her one of the bowls of stew before leaning beside her.

"I tested it for poison. I'm still alive."
Her eyebrows furrow "For now."
The mage laughs. "You are a delight."

The two eat their meal in comfortable silence in addition to watching whatever small amount of activity happened in or around the herbalist's cabin. It really wasn't much, and it got boring…quickly. Dorian was seriously considering dragging his charge away from her place amongst the shadows of their cabin and into the tavern to see if that would earn some kind of reaction. That would only amuse him for so long though, and he wasn't willing to risk the trust that took him weeks to earn.

"Elisa-" Dorian starts.
"I'm not picking a fight with Bull."
"Oh, you're no fun." The man takes her empty bowl. "Perhaps we can turn in early tonight? We have an actual bed. Might as well enjoy it while we can. I'm sure our dear Herald will drag us off somewhere cold and wet."
"If you hog the bed, I'm kicking you off."
"Don't lie. You love me too much."

Elisa ignores him and walks inside while the mage returns their empty bowls to their rightful destination. He was glad he wasn't the one who had the chore of washing dishes, and he almost felt sorry for whatever poor soul had to. Almost. If anyone caught wind of any amount of empathy from him, he might get roped into the horrendous and painfully boring task. No thank you, Dorian thought as he made it back into his wooden abode and inside, finding his younger companion sitting cross-legged on their bed, already dressed in her sleeping robe, and flipping through one of his personal books. Specifically the one he kept on his person. She must have pilfered it off of him outside.

"Do you make it a habit to steal someone's personal journal?"

Dorian nearly missed the look of mortification that crossed Elisa's face as he pulled his tunic over his head. The book wasn't that kind of journal, simply notes he had taken, but he wasn't the type to pass up the opportunity to tease her. He was the only one who could and not end up sporting a bloody nose after all. Once he was rid of the top half of his ensemble, he turns back to Elisa to find her meekly- an expression that actually surprised him, she hardly conveyed herself- holding his journal out to him. He lets a few moments pass before waving away the book, earning a curious expression from the girl. Two different emotions in a span of a couple of minutes? He might be starting to feel a little special.

"It's not a diary sorora. You are welcome to it." Dorian nearly bites his tongue at the Tevene word he had let slip but she didn't seem to notice. The realization that crossed her features was thankfully at his banter.
"You were teasing."
Dorian smiles. "Just a little. You know I adore you."

He plants a soft peck on her forehead, and then sifts through his bag for something more comfortable to wear to bed. Once he finds something suitable, he changes and joins Elisa on the bed. Changing in front of her was very briefly a concern when they first started traveling together. Not for his benefit, he didn't care, but for hers. Dorian had very little when he took her in and so they shared almost everything. Even his bedroll. It was a tight fit, but she didn't seem to mind. When he voiced his concern about changing in front of her, she told him she wasn't bothered by it, then proceeded to change in front of him. Of course, clothing was one thing they didn't share so they had bought her the bare necessities in Redcliffe with money they looted off their enemies. Their task to collect said money is when Dorian truly saw Elisa fight. Her abilities and strength were both unnerving and beautiful. They were a formidable pair once they grew familiar with each other's fighting habits.

"Unlike you, I need my beauty sleep. You can look through that whenever you want."

Dorian shoos the younger off the bed and- admittedly- flops into bed with a groan of appreciation as Elisa returns the book to his belongings. Their belongings really. Most of what they had was because of the enemies she cut down, not to say he didn't take down a good amount himself, but before her the money he came across kept him fed. After her, things were a little easier until they joined the Inquisition. Now they had a bed.
It seemed sharing with Elisa had become the norm, they didn't think twice about possibly asking for a separate abode for her. If Dorian was completely honest, he didn't mind the company. The shared body heat was nice even if the body was female, he treasured their relationship…and it was also refreshing to be looked at as a friend instead of an evil Tevinter blood mage.
A dip in the bed interrupts his thoughts as Elisa crawls over him and then curls into his side after slipping under the blankets. It didn't take long for sleep to take them after that, and they had been so exhausted that neither had moved an inch in their sleep, and neither had heard the Herald enter their cabin the following morning.

"If everyone saw the two of you now, they probably wouldn't look down their noses at you anymore."

Both red and grey eyes snap open and Dorian reflexively catches Elisa's sleeping robes before she manages to lunge at their 'intruder' and inflict any harm. Her reaction wasn't a regular occurrence but the Altus expected it nonetheless, and Nolan thankfully seemed unperturbed. Thank the Maker for small mercies.

"Are Southerners so barbaric that knocking is unheard of?"
Nolan smirks. "I did knock. Repeatedly."

Once Elisa fully wakes and settles, Dorian rubs at his face with his free hand as he sits up. He then realizes who is in the cabin and seeing him unkempt. There goes the illusion that he woke up perfect.

"Can we help you Herald?"
"Be ready to leave in an hour. We're going back to the Hinterlands." With that said, Nolan exits the cabin and Dorian glances at his bedmate.
"Perhaps I should have let you maim him."

Elisa snorts in response.

_
A/N: Before anyone flips their lid, the relationship between Dorian and Elisa is strictly platonic. I am not trying to pair them. There will probably be some background Dorian/Male Trevelyan.

*Sorora is a made up Tevene word and will be translated in later chapters*

Dorian's speech pattern is a little hard to write so I'm sorry if he seemed a little off. Now and in future chapters. Elisa is a personal OC (I honestly would have a ball hanging out with Dorian. He's refreshing.)

Please let me know what you think so far. Also be nice. I accept constructive criticism, not offensive. Offensive will be deleted.